Middle Orient

In a report released on Thursday, the Syrian Network for Human Rights said that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is violating the U.S. Caesar Sanctions Act by supplying the Assad regime with oil and gas. The supplied goods amount to nearly 6 million oil barrels each year, with a value …

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday the negotiations on salvaging the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran “cannot and will not go on indefinitely,” signaling it’s up to Tehran to move forward soon on the issue. Blinken spoke Thursday in Kuwait during a news conference alongside his Kuwaiti counterpart, …

The Turkish contingent in Afghanistan will not assume any combat duty other than self-defense, Defense Ministry spokeswoman Pinar Kara said on Thursday. “The Turkish armed forces have been stationed in Afghanistan for 20 years, and for the past six years, they have been protecting and running the international airport in …

Syrian rebels waged a spate of mortar attacks on Syrian army checkpoints in the southern province of Deraa in the biggest flare-up of violence since government forces retook the restive region three years ago, rebels, residents and the army said on Thursday. The widespread attacks at army outposts near the …

The wave of sanctions targets eight military prisons, including the notorious Saydnaya prison outside the capital Damascus that rights groups have described as a “human slaughterhouse.” The Biden administration on Wednesday issued its first round of Syria-related sanctions since taking office, designating a number of regime detention centers and prison …

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader has recently boasted about his group’s growing weapons arsenal and military capabilities, as the Syrian government forces escalate their attacks on Idlib. The commander of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which controls Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, ruled out a ground attack by the …

The wave of sanctions targets eight military prisons, including the notorious Saydnaya prison outside the capital Damascus that rights groups have described as a “human slaughterhouse.” The Biden administration on Wednesday issued its first round of Syria-related sanctions since taking office, designating a number of regime detention centers and prison …

Turkey has done a rather good job meeting the immediate and mid-term needs of Syrian refugees, but it is now at a crossroads on whether to have a long-term integration policy, experts say. As the influx of Afghan refugees to Turkey spurs anti-refugee sentiment in the country, Ankara’s policy on …

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman, and Defense Minister Benny Gantz agreed on a 58 billion Israeli shekel ($17.8 billion) defenсe establishment budget for 2022, the prime minister’s office said on 28 July. “As part of the understandings, it was agreed that the IDF [Israel Defence Forces] …

The United States and India reaffirmed their commitment to deepening their security partnership during a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to New Delhi. Ties between the two countries have steadily improved amid mutual concerns about China’s growing influence. “There are few relationships in the world that are …